Title: North Kingstown

Introduction

North Kingstown High School was rebuilt approximately six years ago. It is a three floor school with four stair cases. It is located at 150 Fairway Drive in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. It's minutes away from the very popular Jitter's cafe, where all the teachers and students stop by school. It is also just minutes away from gas stations and the little historic town of Wickford. North Kingstown High has two large student parking lots as well as a teacher lot. This school has tennis courts, a outdoor track, a stadium, and practice fields for sports. Inside the school there is a large cafeteria with a teacher lounge, two indoor gyms, a theater/auditorium, communication room, band room, and a ceramic room. The seniors have a privilege of eating lunch outside in the court yard, the court yard is completely surrounded by the school. Students at this school are not only eager to learn, but love to engage in sports in addition to the parents being very involved with the school board and events. SOME OF THIS DETAIL MIGHT BE BETTER IN SCHOOL SECTION. WHO IS AUDIENCE? WHAT DOES REPORT CONSIST OF?

Rhode Island State Flag
Rhode Island State Flag

external image 300px-RI_towns_North_Kingstown.png
Rhode Island State Flag
North Kingstown is the red area.


Community Background

Rhode Island also known as the Ocean State is surrounded by Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. It also was the 13th founded state in what is now known as the United States of America. North Kingstown has 44 square miles of land area while Rhode Island has 1,044 square miles of land area CITATION?. The average household size in North Kingstown is 2.5 whereas the family size is 3.1 CITATION?. In North Kingstown there are approximately 255,495 owned houses HOW MANY UNOWNED HOUSES?. North Kingstown has a population of 26,326 compared to Rhode Island with 1,067,610 people. DO NOT START SENTENCE WITH NUMBER. 25,196 being white while 256 are black, 145 are Indians, and 251 are Asians in North Kingstown. NO NATIVE AMERICANS? The median income for this area is 60,027 this is above the state average of 42, 090 DOLLARS? CITATION. Of these families 5.8 percent is in the poverty level which is lower than the state average of 8.9 percent.CITATION North Kingstown has a low crime rate of 118 crimes a year including rapes, assaults, burglaries, thefts, and auto thefts (City Town Info 2007). The suspension rate is at 23% per 100 , students were suspended for alcohol, disrespect, fighting, disorderly conduct, leaving school grounds, and skipping classes SCHOOL INFO OR DISTRICT INFO? . Pre student the state pays $11,455 and the state total is $51, 189, 796 (RI Department of Education 2006). EACH SENTENCE SHOULD END WITH CITATIONS FOR ITS FACTS.

District Summary

Governor Carcieri recently provided the state with 3.5 million dollars for professional development. SO THIS PARAGRAPH IS GOING TO BE ABOUT PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT? The state also provides 300,000 dollars for statewide curriculum in math and English. There is 500,000 dollars that goes towards math and science specialists (RI Department of Education 2007). North Kingstown High requires students to have a minimum of 20 credits, 4 in math and English and 3 and science. Students also must participate in state testing for English, math, and science. The students at North Kingstown must also come up with a Learning Plan, which is a plan for their future. Being proficient in all 6 core content areas including critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and a few others is also a must for students (McWalters 2005). The student teach ratio at North Kingstown is 1 to 14, which is a a great ratio as students will get needed attention. At North Kingstown High 6% of special education students are self contained while 12% are in general education with supporters. North Kingstown High school provides bus transportation for the school for students who live not in walking distance which would be a mile from the school (RI Department of Education 2006). HOW DO THESE FACTS COMBINE TO TELL US SOMETHING ABOUT THE DISTRICT?

School Analysis

At North Kingstown High school the principal is Gerald Foley and the assistant principal is John Lalley. According to learning and achievement tests North Kingstown High School scored above the state average in the mathematical and verbal SAT scores (RI Department of Education 2006) NUMBERS? . Regarding the safety of North Kingstown High School students, the majority of responses from students on the SALT survey felt pretty safe and compared to the state North Kingstown has higher percentages that feel safe (RI Department of Education 2006) NUMBERS? . At North Kingstown High School there is 1549 students and 114 teachers, this would give the school a 1 to 14 teacher student ratio IS THIS HIGH OR LOW? . For the past years the school has kept up with the reading and math proficiency state tests making them high performing and commended (State School Officers 2006). North Kingstown has a high graduation rate being 97% while the state average is 85%.GOOD. NOW CITE IT. NEW PARAGRAPH: It is important for the parents to interact with the teachers, parents feel that more than half the time teachers respond to their concerns. Also more than half of teachers feel they have a good parent relationship with their students (RI Department of Education 2006). North Kingstown High school has a low number of ESL students, 65 to be exact and they are at 42% proficiencies. There are only 12% of students that receive free or reduced lunch so that would make one believe that North Kingstown has a low poverty level. 97% of students at North Kingstown High school are white and there is only 3% that are African American, Asian, Hispanic, and Native Americans (State School Officers 2006). North Kingstown High school provides a large variety of extra curricular activities including team sports, clubs, and organizations. Wrestling, football, softball, swimming, cheerleading, golf, drama club, law enforcement club, academic clubs, gay/straight alliance and many more (NKSD 2007).

Conclusion

To conclude one would find that North Kingstown as well as the school system is a good place to bring a child up. With student teacher ratios low students are give more of a chance for one on one attention BUT 14:1 IS NOT LOW. DO YOU HAVE EVIDENCE THAT STUDENTS GET ONE ON ONE ATTENTION?. The graduation rate is very close to 100% which is important to know that the other students your child go to school with are just as ambitious. The state testing scores show how school is doing a great job keeping the students on par with the standards. Having low crime is a comforting thing knowing your child is safe even while you are not with them. However just like with any school North Kingstown has problems too, students being suspended for cutting class or alcohol, but this shouldn't cause a huge issue because they seem to have it under control YOU DID NOT MENTION THIS IN YOUR SCHOOL SECTION. . At North Kingstown High School the mission statement in which the school follows precisely states, "The mission of the North Kingstown High School Community is to provide our young adults a learning environment, both physically and philosophically, that fosters their growth as students, citizens, and individuals through opportunity, accountability, encouragement and security" (NKSD 2007). Subsequent to researching about North Kingstown High School one would find that it would be a pleasure to send a son or daughter to this school.


References


City Town Info, (2007). North Kingstown RI. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from City Town Info Web site: http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/rhode-island/north-kingstown

City Town Info, (2007). NK Senior High School. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Info Works Web site: http://www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/1998/pdf/S23108.PDF

Mcwalters, P (2005). RI High School Diploma System. Retrieved October 18, 2007, Web site: http://www.ride.ri.gov/HighSchoolReform/DOCS/PDFs/HIGH%20school%20reform/HSDiploma_v071405.pdf

NKSD, (2007). NKHS - Sports. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from NKHS Web site:
http://www2.nksd.net/education/sportszone/default.php?sectiondetailid=154&sc_id=1192717643&PHPSESSID=b7b297e68bbe3c0d598519114a59b43b

NKSD, (2007). NKHS. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from NKSD Web site: http://www2.nksd.net/education/school/school.php?sectiondetailid=144&sc_id=1192733055

RI Department of Education, (2007). North Kingstown District. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Equity and Adequacy of Resources: Per Pupil Expenditures Web site: http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2007/pdf/ds-insite-bar/23d-expb.pdf

RI Department of Education, (2006). Using Information. Retrieved October 18, 2007, from Info Works Web site: http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2007/pdf/usinginfo/23108H-info.pdf

RI Department of Education, (2006). Information Works. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from Learning & Achievement: Assesments Web site: http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2007/pdf/achievement/23108H-achi.pdf

RI Department of Education, (2006). Information Works. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from Safe and Supportive Schools Web site: http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2007/state/pov-high.pdf

RI Department of Education, (2006). Information Works. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from Engaging Families and Communities Web site: http://infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2007/state/engagingfamilies-high.pdf

State School Officers, (2006). School Data Direct. Retrieved October 17, 2007, from North Kingstown High School Web site: http://www.schoolmatters.com/app/location/q/stid=40/llid=118/stllid=247/locid=993896/stype=/catid=-1/secid=-1/compid=-1/site=pes



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Jaclyn Cianciolo Peer Edit #1

Peer Edit Alyssa by Jaclyn 2




Evaluation / Feedback for EDC 102 Context Statement

Total Score for this Evaluation: 26 /35 pts

Rubric


Introduction = 3 / 5 pts.

5 - Intro provides an overview of the upcoming analysis, including what school/district/community is being analyzed, what aspects are being analyzed, and who the report is intended to inform.
4 - Intro names the school/district/community and previews the scope of the report, but does not describe who the report is intended to inform.
3 - Intro names the school/district/community but not much else.
2 - Intro fails to name the school, district, and community.
0 - No introduction section is apparent.
Constructive comments about report's introduction:




Organization = 4 / 5 pts.

5 - Report includes an Introduction, a Conclusion, and sections for the School, District, and Community. Within each section, paragraphs logically group the information presented.
4 - Report includes all of the sections mentioned previously, but does not break down information into paragraphs within each section.
3 - Report is missing one of the sections.
2 - Report is missing more than one section.
0 - Report does not include any sections.
LABEL SECTIONS; PROVIDE CLEAR TOPIC SENTENCE FOR EACH PARAGRAPH.


Mechanics = 2 / 5 pts.

5 - All information in the report is cited using APA styled- citations after the information and in a Reference section at the end of the report.

and

There are extremely few typos and misspelled words in the report.
4 - Most information is cited using APA style.

and/or

There are a noticeable number of typos or misspellings.
3 - Some citations in the References section are not in APA style, e.g. URLs are listed without the title of the website.

and/or

There are many typos, misspellings, or other writing errors.
2 - Most of the report's information is not cited, or APA style was not used.
0 - Report does not include a Reference section.
Strengths and constructive comments about report's organization:



Conclusion = 5 / 5 pts.

5 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community and describes why findings should be important to reader.
4 - Conclusion reviews analysis of school, district and community.
3 - Conclusion does not refer back to report findings.
0 - No conclusion section is apparent.
Strengths and constructive comments about conclusion:


Creativity = 4 / 5 pts.

5 - Report is written in an engaging style.
4 - Report has some interesting sections.
3 - Report generally reports information without seemingly without purpose.
NARRATIVE INCLUDES MANY FACTS, BUT NEEDS TO TIE THEM TOGETHER IN COHERENT (SMALL) PARAGRAPHS AND THEN SUMMARIZE AT END OF EACH SECTION.


Thoroughness = 8 /10 pts

5 - Report includes at least ten different facts in each section (school, community, district) and

compares each figure with another relevant figure (e.g. state or national average) and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards.
4 - Report includes at least eight different facts in each section and

compares most figures with relevant values and

states whether or not the school is meeting NCLB standards.
3 - Report includes at least six different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures
2 - Report includes at least four different facts in each section and

compares some of the figures to other relevant figures.
0 - Report includes less than four different facts for any section or

fails to compare any figures with other relevant figures.
Strengths and constructive comments about information contained in report: